The invention relates to a screened plug-in socket connector having an insulation body which, in the plug-in region, is constructed as a plastic tongue with an essentially rectangular cross-section, and having a shroud which is essentially rectangular in cross-section, in which the insulation body is accommodated in such a way that a relatively narrow first free intermediate region is formed between the upper side of the plastic tongue and the cover of the shroud, and a relatively broad second free intermediate region is formed between the underside of the plastic tongue and the bottom of the shroud. The connector has a plurality of contact tracks, which run in parallel in the plug-in direction and are arranged on the underside of the plastic tongue, and the connector has in each case two latching hooks which lie alongside each other and are offset inwards, are constructed in the cover and in the bottom of the shroud and can be latched into recesses in the cover and in the bottom of a screening housing of a plugged-in mating connector with the cover of the screening housing of a plugged-in mating connector resting on the upper side of the plastic tongue.
Plug connectors of this type have become known and are of interest in particular in conjunction with the standardized USB (Universal Serial Bus) concept which is the aim of a number of computer manufacturers. This new bus system is based on the principle of not connecting peripheral devices to a PC, as previously done by using individual parallel connections having separate and often different plug connector systems but instead of connecting the peripheral devices essentially serially to a common bus line, which is directly connected to a printed circuit board (mother board) of the PC via a standardized socket on the housing of the PC. The plug-in face of the printed circuit board socket or receptacle according to is essentially already defined by a specification and has four strip-shaped contact springs which lie alongside one another in one plane and, when the bus plug is plugged in, cooperate with the four contact rails or tracks which are arranged lying alongside one another in the plug and produce the electrical contact. The contact springs are arranged in the plug-in socket in an insulation body which is essentially constructed as a plastic tongue of rectangular cross-section, and are bent over in their rear region to form downwardly projecting connecting legs which can be plugged into contact holes in the printed circuit board. Plug and mating connector are normally provided with a metallic screening housing. In the cover and bottom region of these shrouds, in each case two latching hooks are provided which engage in recesses on the screening housing of the suitable mating connector and provide the earthing or grounding contact and the holding forces when pulling out the plug.
FIG. 4 illustrates how, in the case of a plug connector pair according to the specification, the upper latching hook 7 is placed in the recess or aperture 11 of the screening housing 13 of the mating connector 14. In addition to the spring stiffness, the level of the force effect primarily depends on how deeply the latching hook 7 snaps into the recess 11. The greater the coverage penetration, the more severely is the spring stressed when pulling out the mating connector 14. In the case of the known connector, the coverage penetration is limited by the sheet-metal thickness of the mating connector, since the latching hook 7 then rests on the plastic tongue 1 of the plug-in socket.